Washington Post:
David Nyhan Dies at 64; Columnist for Boston Globe

By Joe Holley

David Nyhan, 64, a former Boston Globe columnist who usually
viewed politics and politicians from a liberal perspective, died
Jan. 23 of an apparent heart attack while shoveling snow at his
home in Brookline, Mass.

Mr. Nyhan spent 32 years at the Globe, working as a reporter,
an editor and, beginning in 1985, a regular columnist. He also
was the author "The Duke," a 1988 biography of former
Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis.

In his columns, he was proudly populist and usually pro-Democratic
Party, although not always. He admired Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
and urged him to run for president. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee
Republican who sought his party's presidential nomination and
is now a senator, also was a favorite.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a statement: "He
could get to the heart of a matter faster than anyone I have ever
known. And he did it with a sharp wit and a unique style. . .
. A Nyhan column over breakfast was a perfect way to start the
day, even if it caused a little sudden indigestion."

Kennedy said that an essay Mr. Nyhan wrote was instrumental
in Boston's being chosen to host the 2004 Democratic National
Convention.

"He was a fun-loving, gregarious man who seemed to know
virtually everyone in politics, whether it was at City Hall, the
State House or in our nation's capital," Globe spokesman
Alfred S. Larkin Jr. said.

Mr. Nyhan left the paper in 2002 but continued to write a
twice-weekly column for four newspapers owned by the Eagle-Tribune
Co., north of Boston. He also wrote speeches for Boston Mayor
Thomas M. Menino (D) and was to leave this week on a month-long
trip to Sri Lanka, where he planned to write about a group of
doctors and nurses involved in tsunami relief work.

A column about CBS newsman Dan Rather was vintage Nyhan. He
noted that the story that got Rather in trouble -- a report that
relied on bogus memos about alleged favorable treatment President
Bush received years ago from the Texas Air National Guard -- was
basically accurate and had been reported in the Globe in 2000.
Voters gave the president the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Nyhan
wrote, because they "yearn for a father figure in the White
House. They don't like to think Daddy lies, cheats or steals."

He was born Charles David Nyhan Jr. in Boston and grew up
in Brookline, Mass. At Harvard University, he majored in English
and played on the varsity football and lacrosse teams.

After serving in the Air Force, he joined the Salem (Mass.)
Evening News and then worked in the Associated Press's Massachusetts
bureaus in Springfield and Boston. He joined the Globe in 1969
as State House bureau chief.

Survivors include his wife, Olivia Nyhan of Brookline; three
children, Veronica Jones of Washington, Kate Nyhan of Brookline
and Nicholas Nyhan of New York; a sister; two brothers; and two
grandchildren.